GOPers blast Obama on Israel

Republican presidential hopefuls were quick to criticize President Barack Obama's speech on the Middle East Thursday, accusing him of betraying America's closest ally in the region with his call for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Their condemnations came hot on the heels of Obama's late-morning speech, in which he advocated borders " on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps." The Palestinian people, Obama said, "have the right to govern themselves and reach their full potential in a sovereign and contiguous state."

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“President Obama has thrown Israel under the bus,” Mitt Romney charged in a statement. “He has disrespected Israel and undermined its ability to negotiate peace. He has also violated a first principle of American foreign policy, which is to stand firm by our friends.”

“Obama’s call for 1967 borders will cause chaos, division & more aggression in Middle East and put Israel at further risk,” Bachmann said on Twitter, linking to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's sharp statement.

Rick Santorum said the speech as a whole hearkened to the "sad state of American diplomacy.”

"The fact that the President took six months to simply say that our policy is to oppose violence, support universal rights, and support reform epitomizes the sad state of American diplomacy," Santorum said, calling Obama's foreign policy confused and dangerous.

Tim Pawlenty called a return to 1967 borders "a mistaken a very dangerous demand."

"The city of Jerusalem must never be re-divided," he said in a statement. "To send a signal to the Palestinians that America will increase its demands on our ally Israel, on the heels of the Palestinian Authority’s agreement with the Hamas terrorist organization, is a disaster waiting to happen. At this time of upheaval in the Middle East, it's never been more important for America to stand strong for Israel and for a united Jerusalem.”

And Ron Paul said the Obama administration had again "proven that it does not understand a proper foreign policy for America."

“Israel is our close friend," Paul said in a statement. "While President Obama’s demand that Israel make hard concessions in her border conflicts may very well be in her long-term interest, only Israel can make that determination on her own, without pressure from the United States or coercion by the United Nations. Unlike this President, I do not believe it is our place to dictate how Israel runs her affairs. There can only be peace in the region if those sides work out their differences among one another. We should respect Israel’s sovereignty and not try to dictate her policy from Washington."